[Ray Rogers]

I know a lot of people have good luck with Alabama damascus but that mix of metals can be problematic. The reason why most pattern weld steel is made from 15N20 and 1084 is that those two have almost identical HT requirements. When you start mixing steels whose requirements are too far apart you get billets that try to tear themselves apart as yours seems to be doing. Now, if you are Kevin Cashen you might have the knowledge and the equipment to pull that off and get good results but most of us mortals just can't do it. With a mix like you have there doing the HT for the largest component is about the only way you can go. That means some of those steels may be over heated or some will be under heated but it will be very difficult to avoid some kind of internal stress. Normalizing should help, no promises, but its about all you can do aside from a lot of experimenting. FWIW, I believe Alabama has HT instructions for their steel that you could try.

For normalizing, the usual process is to heat the steel about 150 degrees beyond non-mag (no getting around it, you MUST know when the steel becomes non-magnetic) then letting it cool in still air until it turns black (all color is gone but the steel is still very hot). Then heath the steel again and repeat for a total of three times. After that, heat the steel to non-mag and quench as you normally would ...

PS

As for grinding after HT, just grind bare handed so you can feel the heat. If you can take the heat the blade isn't too hot yet. Dipping the blade in a bucket of water after every pass or two works for me. You need to use a fresh ceramic belt. Fresh sharp belts run cooler than worn belts. Use an old belt to take the corners off the edge before switching to a new belt or you'll just ruin the new belt before you even get started. You can see all this on my Shop Chef video along with a few other useful tidbits...